Samsung Series 5 Ultra

This one is a real bargain. Samsung's Series 5 Ultra offers a huge 500 GB hard drive and an i5 processor at a price that can't be beat. If you're on a budget, it's going to be tough to say no to Samsung's latest Ultrabook.

Lenovo IdeaPad U300S

If battery life is important to you, you may want to check out Lenovo's IdeaPad , which can run for 8 hours on a single charge. That makes this a great option for travelers and students who can't always find a good place to plug in.

HP Envy 14 Spectre

Dell XPS 13

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

Incredibly thin and lightweight, Dell's ultrabook turns on instantly and provides the user with a nice 13.3" screen. While it looks pretty, we thought the XPS 13 suffered from a lot of glitches when we first reviewed it.

Asus Zenbook UX31-RSL8

The ASUS Zenbook makes a great introduction to the ultrabook world. It has 4 GB of RAM and a 1.7 GHz processor all at a very reasonable price. This model is slightly cheaper than the Zenbook we just told you about as it uses an older i5 processor.

BONUS: Microsoft Surface is coming soon

Microsoft

It's not out yet (all signs point to it being released on October 26), but the Surface, Microsoft's laptop-tablet hybrid, could seriously shake up the world of Windows-based computing.

The Surface will actually come in two flavors. The first is the "RT" version due this fall. It won't run the full desktop version of Windows 8, but a special tablet-optimized version. The "Pro" model of the Surface is expected to launch early next year and will include a desktop mode for running older Windows apps like Excel.